Most consumer products and services within a given type are pretty much the same, except for the hype. Let's face it, most toasters, regardless of brand name, do what they are supposed to do: they toast bread. The same goes for laundry detergents, and sponges and just about all general products we buy for our home. And most services we purchase are likewise the same: one gardening service is pretty much the same as all the others, one travel agent pretty much the same as all others etc.. So how do they differ?
Customer service. Some companies are far better at getting and keeping customers because they seem to "care" more about a customer's needs and wants. Their customer service departments are more responsive. And yes, some of them go that little bit extra in providing customer service, an extra that attracts customers. As I point out to my students, in a world where shopping is literally at my fingertips, day or night, a store or service provider has to give me a reason to want to choose them. There's a correlative to this idea that is also important. When customer service is not good, when customers feel they have been treated poorly, they are going to complain, and not just to the service provider. Thanks to our technology the audience for those complaints about service are far ranging and far reaching.
So Delta Airlines, if you're listening, you've got problems. A flight on Delta from Israel to JFK. First, the airline tells the passengers that every seat will have its own television--didn't happen. Next, the cabin stewards came around exactly once to offer a drink to passengers--this is not exactly a 30 minute shuttle to Boston and people get thirsty in 12 hours. But the coupe de grace came when the passengers disembarked. They proceeded to the luggage retrieval area and down the ramp came.......three suitcases. Somehow the airline had managed to "lose" all the rest of the luggage from a packed flight. Were they apologetic and scrambling to let passengers know what had happened? Nope.
My nephew was on that flight. Miraculously one of his suitcases was one of the three that the airline had. Even more miraculously the suitcase that did show up had his Shabbos suit and shoes in it, so my sister was not going to have to scramble to go shopping with him. When will the other suitcases arrive? That the airline has yet to inform the passengers of.
So, given their stellar customer service, will you be running to fly Delta any time soon?
7 comments:
Once upon a time, for those who remember, Delta's slogan was "Delta is ready when you are!"
That was apparently a bit optimistic, and they changed their slogan to "Delta gets you there!"
I believe they've dropped even that claim at this point.
One interesting thing to watch with companies is the "Customer Service Sine Wave". Company A creates a respectable product, and invests in top tier customer service. The service and the product combine to win them a loyal following, and make them profitable.
At some point, there is a shift in management, and someone decides it is time to see how they can make more money. "Look here!", they expound. "We are spending many times more than the industry average on our Customer Service. If we just cut back to what everyone else does, look at how profitable we will be."
And the decline in customer service slowly drives away returning customers, many feeling betrayed because they had recommended the companies products, or returned to buy more, on the basis of past experience.
Eventually, things may get somewhat better as the company tries to restore its brand, and the cycle may repeat. But some customers never return.
i can almost understand losing one suitcase when you are loading hundreds of them, but a plane's worth?!!! It's kind of hard to miss 600 suitcases. Delta would have to be offering me a ticket for $1.99 for me to take a chance on that kind of service.
Only offering drinks on a 12 hour flight?! Not only is that bad customer service, but I feel like there's a serious risk of dehydration. Is this standard practice now?
Oh come now- everyone knows that DELTA stands for Don't Even Leave The Airport. Of course, they're far better than the Caribbean airline Lliat- Luggage Left In Airport Terminal.
Just another example of why airline travel is the pits. My friends and I were going to Baltimore for a simcha. I drove and they flew. Thanks to security back ups and delays and a piece of lost luggage they spent longer in traveling then I did. And I don't think they enjoyed it more either.
Hm... I've flown Delta before without incident... K, this one is totally crazy but I'm just saying it doesn't happen every day.
Regarding the drink thing.... I call the stewardesses over! If I'm thirsty, by golly I'm gonna DRINK!
Regarding switching airlines - just make sure not to switch to British Airways. On a trip back from a family simcha, SEVEN out of fourteen pieces of our luggage were left behind! It took a week to get it all back, soggy and having gone through various countries nowhere NEAR where we had come from! And the worst part was the lack of information as we waited for the pieces. There was no tracking info available at ALL for days.
And what perk pray tell did BA offer in response to my angry letter when the whole fiasco was over.... NOTHING! NADA! ZIPPO!
{going to take a sedative now....}
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